The Hidden

A science fiction crime film set in Los Angeles. An ordinary man robs a bank. He knows nobody, has no motive, and runs over everyone in his path as he drives away. The police shoot him. He lies in hospital and is about to die. Then something passes to the patient in the next bed. From there the film is a chase. The same behaviour continues in another body; each time a stronger person is chosen. Beck is a detective from homicide. A family man, tired, and unable to make sense of it. Then a federal agent arrives. Lloyd Gallagher behaves strangely, speaks strangely, and knows nothing of ordinary police procedure. Beck dislikes him but has to work with him. What the creature wants is simple. Fast cars, loud noise, power and attention; when it has used a body up it leaves it. What the narrative is interested in is not the monster but appetite: the film builds the thing not as a plan of invasion but as a search for limitless pleasure. Gallagher's line opens slowly. Who he is becomes clear in the middle of the film, and that moment changes the tone. The action is direct. The car chases were really shot, the explosions use models, and the effects are used sparingly. Kyle MacLachlan plays the part deliberately oddly. The character's not being human is given through the performance rather than make-up. In one scene the creature moves into a politician. The film makes its own joke at that point. Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Nouri, Claudia Christian and Ed O'Ross are in the cast. Jack Sholder directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes 1980s B-grade science fiction and fast crime films. Who it is not for: anyone looking for logic; most of the rules are never explained and some sections are rushed.